Dancing Tigers & Flamingo's
by Jangelica
Summary: A short story about Malec involving coffee, sweet smiles and a warlock's jealousy of his cat.


It took several painfully awkward moments before Magnus had realised his mistake. Rain was pattering against the windows on an ordinary Wednesday morning and a few moments ago, Magnus had awoken to the smell of coffee. He had smiled and sniffed at the air wistfully before rolling out of bed (after having disentangled Chairman Meow's claws from his hair and set the cat back down on his pillow).

Perhaps it had been his eagerness to see Alec, or possibly he had still been half asleep when he had padded into the kitchen half naked. Alec had turned to him, coffee in hand, and frozen where he stood, eyes wide, raking him from top to bottom. Magnus was only wearing his pyjama bottoms, which were made from black silk and decorated with dancing flamingo's and tigers, which was probably not his sexiest pyjama's choice.

After realising he had been staring, Alec resumed breathing and stared embarrassedly at the floor. For a terrified moment, Magnus wondered whether Alec was bothered or even disgusted by the lack of his bellybutton, which – apart from his cat eyes - was his only devil's mark. It wasn't a pleasant thought and suddenly he found himself uncertain. He was a powerful warlock and three hundred years old; uncertainty was a rare feeling to have after so much life experience. (And Magnus considered himself very wise.) Alec Lightwood affected him more than he should; they'd only been dating for a few weeks.

'Magnus?'' Alec's voice drew him back to the awkward situation at hand.

''Do you want me to leave?'' He didn't ask it in a way that suggested he would be offended if Magnus were to send him away. Alec was always sensitive to other people's feelings and cared deeply about their happiness, more so than his own. Unless this time, maybe he was hoping that Magnus would send him away. He mentally slapped himself. The High Warlock of Brooklyn was not insecure.

''No, not at all Alexander, who else would stand in my kitchen admiring me?'' Alec blushed. ''Is that coffee for me?'' He added, pointing at the cup Alec was holding and hoping to add some normalcy to the situation.

'Wha- oh yeah, here you go.'' Alec walked towards Magnus, keeping a respectable distance and gave him a cup of steaming hot coffee. After draining his mug Magnus realised that his hair must be a wreck and that he wasn't wearing any glitter whatsoever. He felt very naked. Alec did not help matters by casting his stomach furtive glances. His fears about Alec's attitude about his bellybutton were confirmed. He ran out of patience.

''I'll put on a shirt.'' He set his mug down on the coffee table and was about to turn towards his bedroom when Alec caught hold of his arm. ''I'm sorry,'' he said, looking at Magnus with a mixture of embarrassment and something else he couldn't quite place. ''I shouldn't have … stared at you. It's just… you…'' he seemed to be frustrated with himself.

Then Alec did something Magnus was totally unprepared for: he kissed him. It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was a kiss filled with so much uncontrolled passion that it took his breath away. Alec's strong gentle hands, explored every inch of Magnus' back before he suddenly broke away and started kissing a line down his chest, starting with his neck, all the way down to the place a bellybutton should have been. Magnus' breath hitched and Alec looked up and smiled, his whole face lighting up. He then very purposefully kissed the same spot again, and again. All of Magnus' fears dissolved like a demon stabbed with a seraph blade. He put two fingers under Alec's chin and guided his lips back to his mouth.

They stumbled into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. Somehow Alec's shirt had come off and Magnus was on top of him, kissing all his scars. Alec responded by gathering a fistful of sheet into his hands and pressing his lips hard together. Just when Magnus reached Alec's belt buckle, a sharp sound echoed through the loft. Alec tensed. Magnus kissed him quickly on the stomach and gave his hand a reassuring pat before grabbing his robe and walking towards the front door while trying to fix his hair.

Giving up, he pressed the button on the intercom and irritably boomed, ''WHO DARES DISTURB THE HIGH WARLOCK OF BROOKLYN?''

''Uh, sorry to disturb you sir, but I uh heard that you can… well that you can do stuff. You know, magical stuff.'' A low male voice whispered.

Magnus was in no mood. ''I am currently trying to do Hot Stuff,'' he replied dryly, ''Come back tomorrow for magical stuff.''

''But I need it today!'' the boy exclaimed.

''And what is it you need?'' he enquired only to uphold his reputation. (Turning down clients tends to be bad for business.)

''I need you to move all of my furniture from my ex' house to my new apartment.''

''No. Get it yourself.''

''But-,'

''LEAVE. DON'T COME HERE AGAIN.''

When he returned to his bedroom he noted with appreciation that Alec was still shirtless, sitting cross-legged on his bed. He guessed this was Alec's unsubtle way of telling him to please continue where they had left off.

''Who was that?'' Alec's blue eyes locked on Magnus.

He made a dismissive flicking motion, ''Some idiot who wanted something for which I am very overqualified.''

Alec smiled his light-up-the-world smile, ''No doubt.''

Just when he started towards Alexander, Chairman Meow leapt onto the bed and nestled himself between Alec's folded legs. Magnus found himself unreasonably jealous. ''Wow, he really likes you.''

''We have a cat at the institute too. His name is Church,'' Alec told him while stroking Chairman Meow, who was purring his agreement. Magnus gave his feline a stern look, but Chairman Meow studiously ignored him. Rolling his eyes, he laid down on the bed beside Alec and propped his head on his hand. Alec was staring out the window, seeming deep in thought, which gave Magnus the opportunity to admire him.

He wasn't beautiful in a flashy way. Alec didn't try to enhance his good looks by wearing stylish clothing (although, if it were up to Magnus, he wouldn't be wearing ugly grey sweaters all the time) or by styling his hair. Magnus suspected he didn't even consider himself handsome, even though he had sharp cheekbones, fantastic abs and the sort of blue eyes you wanted to drown in. His skin was so pale, it reminded Magnus of porcelain; as if the slightest pressure would cause it to crack into thousands of pieces. This analogy was, of course, very inaccurate because Alec was a trained warrior with angel blood running through his veins. He was someone who could cut down his foes in a blaze of unleashed fury. He had witnessed this only once, during their first date, when Caterina had called him and asked him to calm down a girl who had accidentally Turned during a night out at the Beauty Bar. He thought back fondly of the moment the wolf had thrown Alec against the wall and he had simply used the momentum to push himself off and up, swinging from the chandelier and landing in a crouch in front of Magnus.

''So, what do you want to do today?'' Alec asked, turning to look at him.

Magnus blinked slowly. ''I- what?''

''Uhm, well I don't have anything planned and I thought maybe you wanted to do something.''

''Are you telling me you have a day off? I didn't think Shadowhunters had any of those.''

Alec smiled shyly. ''We don't.''

Grinning, Magnus sat up, facing Alec, their foreheads touching. Dismayed by being squashed, Chairman Meow hissed indignantly and fled the scene. ''Well then,'' Magnus murmured. ''I suppose I'd better make it worth your while.'' 


End file.
